Reunited by the Tycoon's Twins

Maybe Finn wasn’t attracted to her. That would certainly make life easier. Make the spark of attraction that she had felt for him a little less inconvenient too. Except...she had seen the way he had occasionally looked at her since she had arrived. It definitely wasn’t as brotherly as would be convenient for her right now.

She tried to think back to the times that their paths had crossed in her childhood home, long since sold so that her parents could pursue their adventures abroad. Had Finn ever looked at her with adolescent heat in his eyes? Had she ever thought of him as something other than her pain-in-the-butt brother’s pain-in-the-butt friend?

Of course not. Thinking back to her teenage years, it was unlikely that she’d peeled her eyes away from the floor for long enough to even get a proper look at him.

It had taken a long time for her to work out that the way to stop people looking at her was to stare them down rather than avoid their gaze. She had an expression that she knew could shame even the most hardened of voyeurs from fifty paces. It had taken time and practice to perfect, but she’d had no shortage of opportunities.

The pad of footsteps behind her made her spin on her stool, and Finn reappeared with another baby on his shoulder, the white of her Baby-gro as fresh and clean as the cotton of Finn’s T-shirt.

‘This sleepyhead here,’ Finn said, half spinning on the spot so that Madeleine could see the baby’s face, ‘is Bella. Bella, say hi to Madeleine.’

Madeleine smiled at the baby, because who could resist a six-month-old, with their chubby cheeks and their chunky limbs, all energy stored up for crawling and walking and the chaos that was to come? But, for a little while longer, she would still be this gorgeous little chunk of babbling perfection, personality shining out of her, even when she was still half asleep.

‘They’re both so gorgeous. I don’t know how you get anything done,’ Madeleine said with a smile.

‘I don’t.’ Finn laughed, though it sounded a little strained. ‘That’s why you’re here. I think it would be a good idea if we all spent some time together over the weekend, get them settled in. Then next week I’ll work from home but start building in a bit of time at the office. Get them used to it. Does that work for you?’

‘I work for you,’ Madeleine reminded him. ‘It works how you want it to work.’

Finn narrowed his eyes at her. ‘I’m not thinking of it that way. You’re not an employee, Madeleine. I don’t want this to be weird.’

‘It’s not weird.’ She shook off the suggestion, tried to pretend that she was completely comfortable around Finn. Not unsettled at all by the attraction she was feeling for him.

‘Good, because I thought we were just friends helping each other out. I’m really grateful for what you’re doing.’

‘And I’m grateful too, for the place to stay.’

‘Good. You know that Jake is like family to me, right. Which means you’re family too. Which means I want to help you out. Okay? The fact that you’re able to take care of the kids for a few weeks, and I’m able to make sure that you are fairly compensated for that, that doesn’t change how I see this, okay? If there’s anything you’re not happy with, if you change your mind or you find a new flat next week and you don’t want to stay, you just tell me, right?’

She nodded, forced a smile, but it didn’t matter what he said; this was already more complicated than he realised.

CHAPTER THREE

SHE LOOKED TRAPPED, and he hated that look on her face. Her expression when she said that she worked for him, he hated that too. He wasn’t sure what it was, that haunted, distrustful look that told him that not everyone she had worked for had treated her fairly. It reminded him of how she had looked when he had opened the door to her earlier, when she had been harassed by the driver of a van.

‘So...dinner tonight,’ Finn said, changing the subject. ‘My housekeeper, Trudy, has gone for the weekend, and I usually fend for myself.’

‘My goodness, such a modern man,’ Madeleine said with an eye roll. ‘I’m sure I’m very impressed.’

‘Save it for the stand-up routine,’ Finn said, grinning. ‘Fending for myself usually involves ordering pizza. If you’re nice to me, I’ll let you share.’

‘Wow. Those millions sure have made you generous.’ She smiled, but then felt awkward, seeing the look on his face when she mentioned money.

‘I’m still just me,’ he said, his voice low and serious.

‘I know,’ she said and smiled, reassuring him. Even though, to be honest, she didn’t really know him at all. But she knew entitled, privileged jerks when she saw them, and so far he didn’t seem to be one. ‘However fancy your kitchen gadgets. I like the apartment, by the way. How long have you been here?’

He produced a smile that didn’t look quite natural. ‘Since just before the babies were born. We sold the house when Caro and I...’

‘Right, of course.’ Madeleine tried to cover the awkward pause that inevitably followed accidentally bringing up someone’s fairly recent divorce, not wanting to pry. But, at the same time, she was living with this man—albeit temporarily—and couldn’t deny that she was curious about what had happened.

I mean, she was only human.

‘It was all very amicable,’ he said, though a line had appeared between his eyebrows. ‘We’re still friends, of course. The twins, you know.’

Madeleine narrowed her eyes as she watched Finn. That all sounded too easy, and none of it explained the slightly pinched expression that he had assumed. The look of someone who had had too little sleep and too much worry in recent months, if she had to guess.

‘It sounds like you were very grown-up about the split.’